


Welcome Home

by skirthongjoong



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Alternative Universe - Kingdom, Dimension Travel, Elemental Magic, Friendship, Friendship/Love, I just want Royalteez so bad please let me dream, Kim Hongjoong is really just doing his best, Kim Hongjoong-centric, Light Angst, M/M, Park Seonghwa is going through it, Prince Park Seonghwa, Quest, Tags Are Hard, Tags May Change, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:02:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27018499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skirthongjoong/pseuds/skirthongjoong
Summary: "The universe is divided into many dimensions."After the events of the diary film, Hongjoong activates the hourglass to induce Inception, his only hope to restore the utopia he and his 7 friends created. His memory falters as he awakes instead in a land of 7 kingdoms and war between the elements.(aka the excuse for me to write the royalteez au we DESERVE)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	1. Dear Diary

My utopia laid at my feet, shattered into thousands of shards aching to draw blood the moment I attempted to walk upon them. Even when I knew I would find no one there, even when I knew the only company I would have in that place now was dust bunnies and mildew, I returned.

I had to. 

They were my everything; friends and family too soft of a word to describe my paradise. The warehouse. We built this place with our bare hands. Not with brick and mortar but with an unrivaled love and compassion. It was our paradise, our oasis in the desert of monotonous cruel life we had all been stumbling through before meeting one another. And just as it had been our heaven, it descended into hell; our oasis dried up under the beaming sun of reality, the burning inferno dystopia. Perhaps that is why, when the man in the black fedora appeared in my dreams, I was so eager to accept his offer. 

I often dreamed of our home, the golden days before we went our separate ways. But only once did He appear. His face was covered. He did not speak a word. There was something familiar in his eyes yet my mind failed to connect that gaze to a memory. Even in the ethereal space of my dreams, I could feel the prickle of goosebumps rising from my flesh at the uncanniness of the figure. He held that hourglass out to me by its curving metal handles. And the dream ended. 

And as my eyelids fluttered open, there it was before me in reality. He was nowhere to be found. As if the hourglass could not have been haunting enough, the sand began to flow upward. And then- 

“Lord Hongjoong? Honestly, you shouldn’t fall asleep during these strategy meetings. Did you stay up in your chambers again?” A familiar voice gently urged me awake. Though it was less his tone and more the strange statement he gave that prompted a response.

Seonghwa? I thought. Then he must have made it to the next dream too! 

“Hilarious ‘Lord Seonghwa’” I knew we would have to enter a dream within a dream to repair our utopia. What I didn’t know was the scale of the dream layers. “Did it work? Are we at the next-” The drowsy smile on my face shifted to shock instantly, jaw-dropping at the scene before me. I gazed in bewilderment at the huge gaping room with an arching marble ceiling high enough for Goliath to stand comfortably; crystalline chandeliers practically melting down from the creamy white of the ribbed vaulting that bowed along the white arch of the roofing. My eyes traced the curve of the vaulting as it met the straightness of the wall; it moved down smoothly as long marble pillars, spiraled with vague hints of silver and gold. 

Beyond those beams lay the vast expanse of wall, painted with a slow shifting ombre of black to a deep royal blue as if to mimic the murky depths of the sea. The only light of the room was reflected by the golden frames of paintings and patterns against those walls, the light itself already having a golden glow as it was candlelight. Compared to the harsh fluorescent lights of the warehouse, I could feel my eyes adjusting to the dimness. There were windows, large gorgeous ones at that. But they too were painted in a cobalt stained mosaic that filtered the light of the outside world into a dark eerie sapphire. Given this, only the center of the room basked in the golden light. While the corners of the room seemed to bathe in a shadowy vague aura of blue. 

A long black wooden table stretched out before me scattered with all manner of papers and writing utensils, feather pens and inkwells, documents and maps, chess boards and pieces, candlesticks and candles. Alternating black and white chairs were pushed in, bearing only the velvet blue of their cushion. All chairs save for the closest to me, a white chair with one extremely fancy Seonghwa seated at it, looking at me with a kind of tired disappointment. His royal garb suited the yellowish glow of the candles before us, gold embellishments ornamenting the ornate carefully woven white cloth of his princely jacket and white slacks. And with his dark silvery grey hair, it seemed as though he was practically made to stand among the speckled marble pillars behind him. A short silence passed as I processed the room with wide mortified eyes before it occurred to me to ask how the hell I got here.

“Where are we? Is this the second dream?” My fingers drummed against the dark oak wood as if to test its concrete presence in reality. 

“There is only so much of this I can tolerate sir.” Seonghwa rested his chin in the palm of his hand with a dejected sigh, leaning his face against the thread patterns of his white cuff. I caught a glint of something metallic by his hip as he adjusted. “Again and again with these strange dreams. Hongjoong, I know our situation is bleak, but blind idealism and delusions of prophetry won’t get us anywhere.”

“I’m sorry... But I have no idea what you’re talking about or what this is. Have you been here longer than I have? Was I the last to find my way here?” 

Now Seonghwa looked as confused as I was, dark brows furrowed in confusion. “Find your way where sir? Honestly, these dreams of yours are becoming worrying.” 

I froze, staring back at Seonghwa as we both realized the dreadful nature of our reality. If a dream within a dream for him was its own fully functional world...Then where the hell was the Hongjoong that was supposed to be here?

“What the hell are you going on about?!” Confusion turned to fear as Seonghwa stood abruptly, revealing a sheath at his side only to further reveal the broadsword he pulled from it. By the time I had realized what was happening, the blade’s end was already pointed against my jugular. And before a verbal reaction could even leave my lips, the previously calm and elegant man practically roared, “Speak dream demon! Where is Lord Hongjoong?!” 

“I...I don’t know..” I mumbled, eyes glued to the ground, voice choked by fear; fear of the blade, fear of this new world, fear of never seeing my world again. I had nothing. Nothing but the truth to tell. “I’m asleep right now...My real body anyways.” 

“Liar!” What little moisture that was in the air seemed to be choked away, dissipating as dry heat filled the room. That, and the room seemed just the slightest bit brighter, with the flames of the candles seemingly taller than they once were out of the corner of my eye. It was almost distracting enough to turn my attention away from the blade at my throat. 

Almost.

“You can’t-”

“It’s the truth Seonghwa!” The words practically flew out of me before my breathing steadied and my tone softened. “For me, this is a dream. I have no idea where the Hongjoong you know is..” I clenched my fists, eyes squinting shut for a moment before I spoke again. This was a dream, some kind of insane nightmare, so if this dream Seonghwa killed me I would just wake up. Nothing to lose right? “So if you think killing me will bring him back then do it! Just get it-” I opened my eyes to find Seonghwa no longer consumed by his rage, but instead teary-eyed and trembling “...over with?” I heard the clatter of his sword as it fell from his grasp onto the ground beside me. His head fell with a floomp of his ashen hair. I could see him gritting his teeth, trying to bite back the tears that so defiantly continued to stream from his eyes.

“You! Dream Demon!” Seonghwa’s vigor suddenly returned, causing my body to stiffen once more. “You will aid the reunion of our kingdoms and carry out Hongjoong’s plan. Do you understand?!” He raised his head looking me dead in the eyes with a fervent gaze that made a chill run down my spine. There it was again, that heat as if I was standing just a few steps away from a campfire. Only this time that heat had a clear source. Not just the candlesticks on the desk and chandelier flickering wildly with the disturbed air no. When I looked into Seonghwa’s eyes I saw their passion. That and very curious pupils; slit instead of rounded like a human’s and irises that glowed a molten magma orange. “Well?! Will you replace Lord Hongjoong or won’t you?!” 


	2. Promise

I swallowed hard nodding as I began to peel my back away from the wall. Until I knew how any of this world or dream worlds at all worked, there was nothing better to do but play along and learn as much as I could. 

“Yes. Whatever you need.”

I had thought that after those words some kind of peace would return. But while I was still in a state of quiet shock, Seonghwa was obviously still panicking. He paced away from me moving frantically about the stretch of tile floor beyond the dark wooden table. Seonghwa sputtered words so quickly it was hard to catch anything but unfamiliar pieces. And seeing as he looked like he needed more time to process this than I did I took a deep breath of the warm dry air and used this opportunity to get a better look at myself now that I wasn’t about to get my head chopped off. Seonghwa and I were dressed similarly in a recognizably luxurious, royal style. Though the longer I glanced down at my body and investigated the sway of fabric as I moved, the differences between our attire became readily apparent. Firstly, the color scheme was completely the opposite. My “royal garb” was a similar gradient of blues and blacks as the walls of this vast hall, accented by lustrous silver accents and the occasional frigid diamond encrustment. That and I felt the flow of much more loose fabric like the swoosh of a charcoal black hip skirt that billowed and flowed behind my every step. My sleeves had a weightless glide to them as well loose and more akin to a robe than the tightly buttoned cuffs of Seonghwa’s uniform. Now my curiosities about this world and whatever iteration of myself used to exist in it took off. And just as I thought to ask for clarification, Seonghwa had produced a question for me. 

“Can you at least make a cloud?” 

Now the confusion was back in my court and my brows instinctively furrowed. “Huh?” 

“Can you. Make. A cloud.” Seonghwa sounded it out to be with a biting condescension. I would have taken offense if not for the obvious anxiety driving the tone of his repetition.

“Well, um... when it’s cold I can see my breath.” I hesitantly gave a huffing exhale, immediately feeling a flush of embarrassment as the other man stared at me with his jaw practically on the floor. “You uh… you can’t see it because it’s not cold in here though...so…”

“You don’t know anything… You don’t know where you are, and worst of all.. You don’t know how to use your element...If you still have one at all.” Seonghwa’s eyes threatened to well up with tears again. “That’s it then. We’re doomed.” 

My stomach dropped. Only moments after I promised to help, I was already failing him. Judging from the way the flames responded to Seonghwa’s earlier rage and the way he expected me to be able to make a cloud, some kind of magic was present in this world. Some kind of magic was present and I was fully expected to be able to manipulate it and manipulate it well. The daunting weight of my apparent Lord title was nothing compared to the pressure of learning some supernatural skill. I may have looked the part as I woke up in this Hongjoong’s royal attire, but with the embarrassment of being so woefully out of place and unprepared to participate in such a complex world I felt naked and afraid. Seonghwa’s ashen hair had been so neat and tidy when I first woke up at that strategy table, and now here he was a frenetic mess with wide mortified eyes and a wild birds nest of stress, all because of me. I felt a burning shame deep inside of me as my gaze fell from him to the ground. I couldn’t bear to look at him like this. 

If I had just left that damn hourglass alone if I had never given that man in the black fedora the time of day, if I had never let my oasis fall apart in the first place, this Seonghwa would not be the trembling worried mess my mistake had turned him into. Just as he began to step away to begin his second round of anxious pacing, my hand jutted out; seizing the lacy white fabric around his wrist and jerking him towards me in one swift movement. No more fucking around. No more mistakes. I got myself into this mess and I would get myself out. 

“Then teach me damn it! ” Seonghwa froze as I blurted those words. The candlelight suddenly dimmed in response, as if frightened by the sudden tone of my voice As my brain caught up to the impulsive action of my body I realized the intensity of my authoritative tone as well. And given the deafening silence of the man in my grasp, I could tell I startled him. I loosened my grip, fingers gliding down his palm to interlock with his. “I’m so sorry that I’m not who you need me to be now,” I massaged the backs of his knuckles, giving my best smile of reassurance, “but I will do whatever needs to be done to become that person in his absence, but I need your help to do so. Do you understand?” As I glanced back up at him I was surprised to find a smile poking at the corners of his lips. That and I couldn’t help but the warmth of his body so close to mine. I felt like the friendly warmth of a campfire, no longer the roaring oppressive dry heat that had filled the room previously but a pleasant coziness contained to his body. Seonghwa’s magic appeared to be tied to his emotions, and to my relief, he seemed to be doing better now than he had been since the entire mess of me waking up. 

“Yes my Lord. I understand.”


	3. Wave

I could tell Seonghwa was still deeply disappointed, but my attempt to understand seemed to give him some hope. “I admire your commitment Lord Hongjoong. But it is getting awfully late- step aside please-” I obeyed the sudden order releasing Seonghwa’s hand and moving aside as he...yawned? His mouth gaped wide like any drowsy pre-yawn mouth does but a normal sleepy exhale was replaced by a visible heatwave, the kind that makes the air waver like the air around an airplane engine as it begins to accelerate down the runway. “Mm, sorry. Perhaps you, er rather, the Hongjoong that is usually here was right to fall asleep during our strategy meeting.” I had a thousand questions about how Seonghwa’s fiery abilities worked, from how he came to have one at all to how the hell it seemed to so casually coexist with his seemingly normal human body. But the events of today did seem to be catching up with him. I glanced up at the enormous stained glass windows, now more of dark, brooding indigo inching closer to black with the lack of light even attempting to pour in. It must’ve been nighttime. 

“Well, today has been quite the emotional roller coaster. Don’t sweat it!” 

There it was again that look of absolute befuddlement on Seonghwa’s face. “What is a Roller Coaster?” 

I snorted, shaking my head and frantically waving my hands as though they would clear my previous statement out of the air. “Nevermind nevermind, let's just get you some rest.” I glanced around the vast expanse of the strategy room, spotting the sculpted porcelain white archway and then the dark oak doors that sealed the would-be opening closed “Um, is there a bedroom I can stay in?” 

Now it was Seonghwa’s turn to laugh at me, stifling a small wheeze as he put out all but one candle on the tactician's table, picking up the lone glowing pricket before moving towards the doors ahead.  
“My Lord, this is your home. Of course, you may use your own bed chambers. Come along.” He gestured for me to follow with a warm inviting smile and that was all I needed to follow him out of the now darkened abyssal blue room. The hall too would have been an eerie indigo haze if not for the diligent fleet of sconces, illuminating the hall in checkpoints of warm glowing light. It must have looked quite funny, me trailing each long straight away and winding corner behind the white-suited fit and proper prince of a man before me with my flowing dark blue robes as though I was his murky black shadow. I watched as the candles we passed went out, as though our presence once beyond them dismissed them from their irradiation duty. My curiosity came creeping back to me, I had to know more about his powers.

“So your power. You can control fire?” I cringed internally at the obviousness of my question but no better jumping-off point came to mind. 

“Fire is my element, yes. But admittedly control is a strong word.” I watched as he took a deep breath, observing the flames of the candles on either side of the hall swell upon his inhale and shrink in time with his exhale. “External fire I can only control to some extent. But most of the time it responds to me.” 

“External fire,” I echoed, “then you have some kind of fire within you as well?” Seonghwa nodded, turning on the balls of his feet to face me while walking backward and giving his stomach a small pat.  
“Yes. At my core, I house a draconic flame. Though it too activates more on instinct than on command.” My mind immediately went back to the moment Seonghwa commanded me to join him; those slit pupils, and that one moment of flesh that appeared more scale than skin. That definitely checked out. “It is quite amusing that you would mention control. Water elementals like you tend to specialize in controlling their element.”

I figured my element was water, what with the blue something or other everywhere we went in this Apollodorus meets Gothic castle that belonged to the Hongjoong of this world. Even the things that were not blue had this flow to them, whether it was the melting spiral of creamy white stone as the vaulted ceiling met the plateau of the marble pillars or the velvety black helix patterns whose repetitions curled along as they embroidered the sapphire walls. But Seonghwa’s comment about control concerned me. His ability just seemed to activate in time with his emotions. If I had been a fire elemental, our previous exchange would have been the perfect litmus test if I had powers at all given how heated (pun fully intended) our interaction became. Not so for water, it seemed. 

“Then... How will I know if I even have- Seonghwa! Wall!” I snapped out of my contemplation just in time before Seonghwa nearly backed himself into the archway of whorling marble less than a pace away. 

“Oh! Ah- yes!” Seonghwa stammered as he stopped abruptly turning around to face the door just to the left of him. It was still wooden like the heavy dark wood of the strategy room door’s though the surface was painted in breathtaking renaissance style; a soaring sky blue met the deep blue-green of the ocean, with wispy white clouds drifting through the air and dimly reflected on the surface of the water. But it was not just any gorgeous painting of the sea, it was the gorgeous image of the sea that we had always dreamed of. Our oasis, the warehouse; when we were together we often joked about our little hideout from the city being an oasis in a vast desert of cruel relentless everyday life. But it grew beyond a simple pool of water in our minds. We often mused of escaping the city by sea, sailing off into parts unknown, and abandoning the landlocked urban world that droned along around us. Despite such a naive and childish fantasy, the image was vivid in our minds, and this was exactly the way we pictured it, from the dreamy sense of impossibly pristine weather to the kind of serene, lazy waves only those who admired the ocean from afar would imagine; having never seen the sea's potential to swallow and destroy firsthand. 

An odd coincidence to say the least.


	4. Twilight

Before I could speak on the strange familiarity of those waves, Seonghwa piped up.

“We’re here Lord Hongjoong, your bed chambers await.” Seonghwa parted the painted doors revealing a room basked in a pelagic cerulean. My eyes immediately searched for the source, glancing up at the candle chandelier that appeared to be encapsulated in a bubble of blue stained glass. That and the flames that flicked on each of the wicks about the chandelier’s circumference appeared to glow bright and cool even without the filtering of color by the glass; more similar to the glow of fluorescent light or LED than ye old orange flame. So bright in fact, that the reflection was visible in the larger panes of glass window up on the wall similar to that of the strategy room.

Bathed in this light was the four marble pillars framing the unfathomably luxurious canopy bed and its sapphire bedspread just below, its billowing comforter adorned with patterns of cloudy white and lustrous silver that practically screamed royalty. With another velvety cyan fleece that melted out from beneath the heavy comforter above it. Even the pillows had a pearl-esque sheen with a faint suggestion of rainbow refraction upon the otherwise cream white surface. However, the grandiose room took a turn once my attention moved to the walls. Evidence of previous hangings, perhaps picture frames or mirrors were present judging my now empty nail mounts or would be billowing banners messily rolled up or pinned out of the way of what now resided on the wall. Spreads of parchment paper linked by black threads, from hastily scribbled notes of questionable legibility to vague drawings of rectangular shapes, symbols, and arrows. 

‘Fire and Water? Elementals???’ ‘Map??’ ‘Related to the war???’ And similar frustratingly vague snippets of thought all connected to one ominously large dark inked note spelling out: ‘WHAT DOES IT MEAN?!’  
The paintings I expected to find upon the walls were huddled into a corner, still pristine without a sign of dust as though they had just recently been taken off their mounting on the wall. Just as I looked to Seonghwa for an explanation I saw the shock in his eyes. This wasn’t what he was expecting either.

“Lord Hongjoong...Is that why…” He mused to himself before cautiously moving into the room. Seonghwa kept opening and closing his mouth, brows quirking one way then the other as if he kept almost starting a sentence but quickly revised whatever the statement or inquiry was going to be before it left his lips. It seemed we both had a swarm of curiosity about the papers before us, yet neither of us seemed quite able to articulate what the significance of it from our perspective was. Instead, Seonghwa opted to move past it altogether. “I must apologize, your-...his chambers don’t usually look like this...I’m happy to tidy up some other time.” 

“I-It’s fine,” I stammered out of my own thoughts,“if these things are up on the wall, then the Hongjoong before me intended for them to be there right-” my body reminded me of the reason we had arrived here in the first place, as a yawn involuntarily interrupted my question. Seonghwa nodded, a smile poking at the corners of his lips as I yawned. “You’re right My Lord. For now, you must get some rest. We can continue to converse in the morning.” He walked past me, peeling back the decadent comforter and gesturing for me to come get in the well, King-sized bed. 

“Oh! Yes!” I shuffled forward awkwardly, admittedly flustered at Seonghwa’s apparent intent to tuck me in. What was I? Eight years old? Nevertheless, I crawled onto the plush welcoming sheets and rested my head and against the billowing silk-cased pillows. Being babied wasn’t all that bad. 

“Once I have the energy in the morning, I can prepare your bedwear for tomorrow night. For now, just try to get comfortable.” 

“That won’t be hard, I’m already wearing robes.” I nodded giving a small smile, as Seonghwa prepared to leave. I wanted to ask where his bed chambers were, but I didn’t want to hold him up any longer from the rest he deserved after the exhaustion my arrival to this world must have inflicted upon him. That and given his willingness to nuzzle me into bed and damn near tell me a bedtime story, I feared any suggestion of the latter would land him sharing a bed with me. Not that that would be so bad… At any rate, we exchanged soft goodnights and Seonghwa saw himself out the door, leaving me alone to my thousands of thoughts and inquiries still buzzing about my brain. At first it was a question of how I was going to fall asleep with the endless drone of thinking and more thinking as I continued to process my situation. But eventually, the focal point of my anxiety took a sharp turn as a larger question dawned on me: what the hell was going to happen once I fell asleep? This was still a dream. No even worse, a dream within a dream. I was already two layers deep. Would closing my eyes throw me into a third dream world? Was I going to be stuck in an endless Twilight Zone loop of fully-fledged worlds? Was there truly no going back? Was I ever going to reunite with my friends? With worry after worry stacking on top of each other I was certain that I would never fall asleep. Eventually, however, my body proved me wrong as my eyes grew heavy, and my thoughts slurred. Before I knew it I was asleep.


	5. Pirate King

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> POV shift for this chapter uwu

I waited there outside Lord Hongjoong’s chambers. I was anxious that he would notice the lack of footsteps moving off down the hall, or that he would mistake my reluctance to proceed with my own sleep as something malicious. But admittedly that worry paled in comparison to the anticipation that gripped my chest to see if my Lord would rise once this Hongjoong fell asleep. My head was gripped by an aching affliction, as if my exhausted body was doing its best to punish me into getting some rest. But all pain was negligible in light of Lord Hongjoong’s potential return. It wouldn’t be long before- ah! Yes! The telltale soft snores I had been waiting for began. Perhaps now there was some handoff between the two transpiring in the dreamworld; a hand off consciousness where Lord Hongjoong would jolt up and offer an explanation of all of this! And so I waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. 

I stood there in anticipation for a pathetic amount of time, accompanied only by the distant sound of slumber and the pounding of my own heart. This interdimensional traveler falling fast asleep was the most normal event to transpire today, the only instance of normalcy I had hoped wouldn’t occur tonight. Nothing was happening. I felt my eyes threaten to well up with tears once again as I came to accept the extent to which this wrinkle in reality complicated things. There would be no quick fix, no merciful reshuffling of corporeality that would spontaneously deliver my Lord back to me. I felt the heave of my chest and my breathing becoming irregular as my body prepared itself to sob. 

“No. No more crying.” I hissed through gritted teeth, wiping my eyes as I turned to begin on the path to my bedchambers. “Lord Hongjoong...He would trust me to find the solution. Now is the time to repay his kindness.” And so as I paced down the hall, I put my frustration, my sorrow, my disappointment towards picking my mind for a potential answer.   
Lord Hongjoong was replaced by this Hongjoong from elsewhere. And wherever that elsewhere was they were not elementals, and it seemed like a decent guess to assume that wherever was not actively at war either. He does not possess any elemental abilities, he does not know the scope of the conflict he has landed in. But the most key detail appeared to be the fact that he said this was all a dream. I paused, glancing over my shoulder back at the bedchambers. Those frantic notes on the wall… Lord Hongjoong had explicitly asked that he be left alone in his chambers more often than ever in the days leading up to today. I changed course, beginning back towards the strategy room rather than my own bedroom.

“If I have the energy to cry. I have the energy to sort this out dammit.” I whispered to myself, throwing open the dark oak doors and reigniting the candles. I sat at the tactician's table where we had our last meeting, staring intently at the empty sapphire cushioned seat before me as though the chair of my Lord would elaborate my endless inquiries. “Think Seonghwa, what happened before today…”

Hongjoong’s sleep habits had gone from bad to awful over these past few weeks. He had insisted upon retiring early for clarity of mind, which of course I granted. But just as quickly, the pattern reversed. Lord Hongjoong stayed awake through the night more and more often, so much so that he suffered from lingering drowsiness and sleep attacks throughout the day. My eyes widened as I began to put two and two together. Sleep attacks yes, exactly like the one just prior to the disappearance of his consciousness. And that other Hongjoong swore that this reality for him was a dream. Something about this had to do with sleep, that is why he insisted on drifting off to bed so early in those prior weeks. But what about sleep fascinated Lord Hongjoong in the first place? And if sleep was the point of fascination, then why the sudden switch to investigating the night time far into the break of dawn and stumbling through the day? 

My thoughts were interrupted by a sudden jagged flash of lightning. I squinted at the stained glass windows, giving a quick huff of an exhale to put out the candles and attempt to look out into the darkness without the reflection of their glow. I could not see clearly, but as I stood in silence it was quickly apparent I did not have to. I could hear the wind begin to howl as it peppered the windows with a vicious blitzkrieg of water droplets. This was not just any storm, this was borderline torrential. 

“Tonight? But that can’t be right.. we haven’t had a rain like this since-” Again an abrupt halt as thunder crashed and threatened to shake the entire fortress. But that wasn’t the sound that made me freeze. In time with the clap of thunder, screams of pain began from down the hall- no, from Hongjoong’s chambers. Without another thought I turned sharply on my heels and bolted out the door, sprinting down the hall and throwing the painted doors of his chamber open. 

“Hongjoong is e-everything-” 

My jaw dropped at the sight before me. Hongjoong back arched to contort his torso so his shoulders were sharply raised off the bedding beneath him and tensely veined hands gripping at the blankets below. Though it was in this exorcist position that he appeared to be frozen in time, motionless save for the vocal chords that belted his wails of agony from his open maw. From that same howling mouth an eerie fog rolled out past his lower lips, filling the room with the heavy clouds that hovered low to the ground from their dense humidity. And if that was not nightmarish enough, I felt my blood, despite all the heat of my draconic core, run cold at the sight of his eyes; bright glowing pupil less orbs of crackling lightning, with tendrils of frantic electrical energy skittering around their perimeter rather than eyelashes. 

This was my Lord Hongjoong.

I rushed to the bed, side, kicking up wisps of the lumbering fog in my wake, grabbing at the smaller man and hoisting his torso up as I brought his face closer to mine.   
“Lord Hongjoong! You must wake up! You must stop this!!” Just as I moved to try to shake him awake. The storm outside raged on as I shouted over the clamor of shuttering wind-shaken window panes and an endless barrage of thunder and lightning. Hongjoong’s expression twitched, as if beginning to break through the paralysis as his jaws began to clench, his screaming was no longer a primal holler, he was beginning to form words.

“LET..!!! ME…!!! GO…!!!” 

“W-What, L-lord Hongjoong I-I-” Again I was interrupted this time by the clatter of pins. I glanced up at the wall.

“No! No no no no!” The humidity of the room , it was causing the parchment on the wall to curl and bend. One sheet had already become saturated with water and fallen to the damp ground with its ink dribbling off the page. An order was order no matter how cruel, and oh how cruel the fates were. I dropped his body down back to the mattress and watched as his lips clamped shut and his eyes fluttered closed the moment the waves of his blue hair hit the pillow. All at once, the pelting droplets against the glass halted, the wind stilled, and all that remained of the storm was the echoes of Hongjoong’s voice thundering in my head. The only sound of the room now was the soft snores of the man beside me, and my own racing heart.


End file.
